[blackgoat90]

My rear hotchkis sway bar snapped! Right next to the driver side bushing that holds the bar. Does this happen??? Its been on the stiffest setting but I thought they would be made to handle that. Has this happened to anyone else? Are my springs not stiff enough? Im kind of at a loss...

 

[Duckman]

Thats a first...I would contact Hotchkis

 

[Sandman SS]

I'm boggled on this one

 

[purplenurple]

I've heard of someone snapping one with pedders springs. Hotchkis replaced it no questions asked.

What kind of springs are you using? The softer the springs, the more work/stress is put on the sway bars.

 

[blackgoat90]

Im using B and G springs, probably not stiffer than pedders. Nice to know theyll replace it though...

 

[purplenurple]

Just curious, but do you have poly rear endlink bushings?

 

[Goatpilot05]

The sway bar may not have been installed correctly. The suspension must be at proper ride height as you cinch up the sway bar brackets. Don't tighten the bar brackets with the suspension hanging or you will create an excessive preload condition on the bar and brackets when you return the suspension to normal ride height and a breakage problem when the suspension compresses beyond normal ride height.
Don't ask me how I know....................

 

[blackgoat90]

Just curious, but do you have poly rear endlink bushings?

yes

The sway bar may not have been installed correctly. The suspension must be at proper ride height as you cinch up the sway bar brackets. Don't tighten the bar brackets with the suspension hanging or you will create an excessive preload condition on the bar and brackets when you return the suspension to normal ride height and a breakage problem when the suspension compresses beyond normal ride height.
Don't ask me how I know....................

hmm i don't remember,if it said that in the directions I probably did it. But wouldnt the bar just rotate in the bracket when the car drops? I dunno if that was the case, i dont kno how it would last through 10000 or so miles and a cuple track events... i guess it could have broken at the second one i don't think we checked it after.

 

[wannaB]

The sway bar may not have been installed correctly. The suspension must be at proper ride height as you cinch up the sway bar brackets. Don't tighten the bar brackets with the suspension hanging or you will create an excessive preload condition on the bar and brackets when you return the suspension to normal ride height and a breakage problem when the suspension compresses beyond normal ride height.
Don't ask me how I know....................

I will leave this to some experts- but I dont think this is correct

you cant tighten the sway brackets under load- there is no room to work-

the end links need to be tightened under load - but I not the the sway brackets - you do them with the diff. dropped

 

[24UGTOinFL]

It is not necessary to preload the suspension when tighteneing a properly designed, installed,and lubricated polyurethane joint. The arm/link will simply rotate around the sleeve as one would expect of a bearing joint. OEM bushings are designed to twist with suspension articulation and that is why they need to be tightened at ride height.

 

[dms]

This is the 4th one I have heard of or seen. Hotchkis will take care of it. Just contact them.
This is one of the challenges that occurs with hollow tubes. Another one is potentially a 3-4mm reduction in diameter at major bends. So if you have a 27mm bar, but the bend is at 23mm, then the actual bar strength will be at 23mm, not 27mm.

Here is a picture showing what I mean:

This is one of the many reasons solid bars are better than hollow.
mike
dms


can you include a picture?

mike
dms

 

[Puddin15]

I had to have the car on the ground at ride height just to tighten the rear end links on the stiffest setting. With the car on jack stands, the end links wouldn't reach the through holes on the sway bar.

 

[Billybad05]

that sucks, atleast they will replace it

 

[Jason07]

I'm going to go check mine now for any abnormalities. Hopefully Hotchkis is easy to deal with and will send you a new one ASAP.

 

[Pappa Prich]

This is the 4th one I have heard of or seen. Hotchkis will take care of it. Just contact them.
This is one of the challenges that occurs with hollow tubes. Another one is potentially a 3-4mm reduction in diameter at major bends. So if you have a 27mm bar, but the bend is at 23mm, then the actual bar strength will be at 23mm, not 27mm.

Here is a picture showing what I mean:

This is one of the many reasons solid bars are better than hollow.
mike
dms


can you include a picture?

mike
dms

Mike, good info. Are the Pedder sways solid?

 

[PFitzsnuggly]

Mike, good info. Are the Pedder sways solid?

You know they are. If pedders was hollow he would be saying hollow is the best.

 

[dms]

You know they are. If pedders was hollow he would be saying hollow is the best.

We do not sell hollow bars because they are structurally inferior to solids, weaker, and more problematic. Pedders is a big company! We can make anything. We choose to make all of our bars solid. A hollow bar has to be on average, 3mm larger in OD than a solid bar. Plus when you bend a tube, you will most like decrease the OD anywheres from 3 to 4mm as the pictures above show. You can see the change in the bar thickness easily in the 2 pictures above. The sway bar will only be as strong as its weakest link. So if a bar goes from nearly 32mm thick, changes to 28mm at the bend, this bar is not a 28mm bar, which is equal the strength of a 24.8mm solid bar.

If you doubt me, I will give you the math so you can confirm this!

The only disadvantage of a solid bar is it will add maybe 6-7lbs as compared to a hollow bar. But then I ask you how much more weight did your wheel and tire package add over OE, and just how much will 6-7lbs of weight added to the lowest part of the GTO, effect role centers?

mike
dms

 

[blackgoat90]

This is a small cell phone pic that i took the day we found it. That part is the small drivers side part. The break wasn't exactly on the corner, it seemed to be where the bracket was. You can even see some grease on there from the bracket.

 

[dms]

This is a small cell phone pic that i took the day we found it. That part is the small drivers side part. The break wasn't exactly on the corner, it seemed to be where the bracket was. You can even see some grease on there from the bracket.

Wow, my eyes are really bad. LOL

mike
dms

 

[LS2gote]

I've never heard of a hollow sway bar. Doesn't sound natural. I guess for weight reduction but just doesn't seem worth it.